Remember that old play of Jose Canseco? You know, the one where the ball bounces off his noggin and escapes over the fence for a home run? That's sort of what happened in a minor league game over the weekend. Sort of.
The Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers were taking on the Sacramento River Cats on Sunday when Dodgers hitter Devin Mann hit one of the strangest "home runs" you'll ever see. Let's just say Mann needed a little help from River Cats center fielder Bryce Johnson. Actually, make that a lot of help.
When is a flyout not an out? When the center fielder drops the ball over the fence!@Dodgers No. 30 prospect Devin Mann knocks one of the most surprising homers of the year for the @okc_dodgers: pic.twitter.com/kFmUKabauV
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) July 16, 2023
Mann's fly ball originally looked like a nice running catch on the warning track. But when Johnson never showed the ball or threw it in, it was clear something was up.
After making the catch, Johnson put his glove over the railing by the right field bullpen, where the ball dropped out of his glove. Umpires ruled the play as a home run, though many fans might argue it was a catch. However, because Johnson never made an attempt to take the ball out, it was all part of the catch. The result was the same as a home run attempt in which the ball lands in the web of the glove but is knocked over the fence.
According to Minor League Baseball, the rulebook states: "It is not a catch, however, if simultaneously or immediately following his contact with the ball, he collides with a player, or with a wall, or if he falls down, and as a result of such collision or falling, drops the ball."
Mann was a little confused, but the result was all that mattered.
"From my point of view, it looked like a pretty solid catch," Mann told MiLB.com. "But I don't know all the ins and outs of how they get to the conclusion of it being a home run. But, shoot, I'll take it."
The Dodgers went on to win the game 6-4.
A word to all you youngsters out there: Don't do what Johnson did.
